'Carrie' Might Get Bloody Again on the Stage

A blood-drenched young woman who immediately morphs from prom queen to telekinetic murderer is not the sort of fare that usually inspires musicals. Nevertheless, Brian De Palma's Carrie found its way into a song and dance production back in 1988. But it was no Evil Dead: The Musical ... it was a disaster. First, there was a a stint in Stratford that lasted three weeks. Then, five performances on Broadway. Just five -- the cheers mixed with plentiful booing and terrible reviews until it closed after a handful of shows -- thus becoming one of the most expensive flops in history.

I don't know if it's because Fame is in the air, and the production was choreographed by Debbie Allen and worked on by Dean Pitchford, but Variety reports that producers are bringing together a 29-hour Equity reading of the flop. The creators -- composer Michael Gore, lyricist Pitchford, and writer Lawrence D. Cohen are "revisiting and reworking" the script, but no further plans have been set yet.

Should Broadway, or Hollywood for that matter, be revisiting past flops and try to save them? Is it a waste of time? Or, will Carrie finally get the tuner reception she deserves? Me, I just watch the clip after the jump and wonder what on earth they could be thinking, and hoping Tinseltown's next move is not revisiting all of cinema's flops.